Software Patent Litigation Data: What Have We Learned?

The huge increase in software patent litigation over the last 15 years has produced reams of articles, cost fortunes and even snagged the US President's attention. But when something goes on for long enough, it also produces data -- lots and lots of data. So what have we learned from all the data?

The huge increase in software patent litigation over the last 15 years has produced reams of articles, cost fortunes and even snagged the US President's attention. But when something goes on for long enough, it also produces data -- lots and lots of data. So what have we learned from all the data?

Non-practicing entities are growing and litigation costs increase each year, but that's hardly the whole story. Even as defensive strategies are proliferating, software patent plaintiffs are becoming much more sophisticated. Software patent trolls are expanding their reach internationally and practicing entities are increasingly embracing troll-like behavior. Ms. Nicholson will examine data from academic and industrial sources to see what it all means for Linux, Android, GNU and the rest of the free software community. More data provides more opportunities to defend free software from the pernicious effects of vague and overly broad software patent aggression, as long as we are willing to use it.